Oops ... She Did It Again! Alize Stuns Serena

When she beat Serena Williams in straight sets in Dubai I assumed the victory was a one-hit wonder. However, Alize Cornet proved she is the real deal, stunning the world No.1 in her backyard, on the Center Court at Wimbledon—a place where the American shone brightly so many times. 

The match seemed headed for a quick finish, Serena cruising through the first set 6-1. Not sure how, but the Frenchwoman found the strength and inspiration to turn it around, leveling the dispute in tremendous fashion. With the momentum swinging in her favour, Alize built what seemed like a decisive lead. But at 2-5 down in the decider, Serena caught fire. As she did so many times before, the American mounted a comeback cutting down the deficit to force the Frenchwoman serve out the match for the second time at 5-4. A few unforced mistakes to start the game proved vital for Serena who watched her opponent serve out the biggest win of her career. 

"I'm just calming down now because I was very excited for an hour. I couldn't believe it. I still cannot believe it, actually," Cornet said. "If somebody would have told me a couple years ago that I would be in the second week here at Wimbledon, and beating Serena, I wouldn't have believed it. 

"It feels great. Of course, what a victory. It's the best way to get to the second week."

While Cornet reached just her second Grand Slam fourth round, Williams has now failed to make the quarterfinals at all three majors this year—she lost to Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round in Melbourne and to Garbine Muguruza in the second round at Roland Garros.

Next up for the jubilant Frenchwoman is young sensation, Canadian darling, Eugenie Bouchard whom she beat in their previous meeting.

Alize Cornet won the biggest match of her career, recovering from the loss of the first set to stun world No.1 on the Centre Court at Wimbledon. The Frenchwoman beat Serena Williams 1-6,6-3,6-4 to reach the fourth round.

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Cornet Wins Marathon in Poland

After a dream week in Dubai—where she stunned world No.1, American Serena Williams, en route to the final—rejuvenated Alize Cornet confirmed her good run of form with another strong performance in Katowice. A wildcard into the draw, Cornet dramatically dismissed  Italian Camila Giorgi to lift her fourth career title. Although she looked poised for a straight sets victory, the Frenchwoman found herself match point down in the decider. She kept a clear head, fought off the match point, regained control, and managed to turn the match around, ultimately closing out a thrilling 7-6,5-7,7-5 triumph over first-time finalist Giorgi.

If there's one thing Cornet proved recently, that's the fact that she is going to fight until the very end. She has shown it so many times already this season, and she did it again in Katowice. Except for her first round match, all other encounters went the distance. Her most notable performance came in the semifinals where she denied home hope Agnieszka Radwanska in absolutely amazing fashion. Not only did she come back after a nightmare first set, but she regrouped again after going down 0-3 in the decider. Showing extreme mental toughness and fierce determination she sealed out a hard-fought 0-6,6-2,6-4 victory. This was her second straight top 3 win.

I am really impressed by how well she is now able to cope with these big matches. In the past, Alize had developed a sort of reputation for losing on the important occasions. Things changed considerably in the past 12 months and, as a result, the Frenchwoman is now on the verge of breaking into the top 20 again. She has been as high as No. 11 in February 2009 and, provided she maintains this excellent run of form, she can maybe climb even higher till the end of the season.

With young hope, Caroline Garcia, winning in Bogota, this has been a sensational week for French tennis. Allez les bleus!

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Cornet Pulls Off Biggest Win

Before this week, I really doubted Cornet's ability to pull off a stunner. Especially against someone so fierce and mentally strong as Serena Williams. She was always a talented player, a challenging opponent, but she never had that extra spark to take her to the top of the game. While I don't think this has or will soon change, the Frenchwoman is showing some great progress.

This year already she teamed up with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win France's first Hopman Cup, lost a tough three-setter against Sharapova in the third round at the Australian Open, and succumbed 7-6 in the decider to Sara Errani in the semifinals on home soil in Paris. In Dubai she took it one step further, reaching her second Premier final after a sensational 6-4,6-4 victory over the world No.1 American. 

She was actually superb the entire week, dismissing high class opponents like red-hot Simona Halep, Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro, and ultimately the one and only Serena without dropping a set. 

Talking about her victory over the American, the thrilled Cornet said: "It was tough to close it out because I had four match points the game before, and on the four match points she played unbelievable, so I was like, 'Okay, maybe she's going to put a little bit more on the important points now.' But I just tried to relax and breathe and pass my first serve at 5-4. I stayed focused and when the last ball went out I was like, 'That's it? I did it?' Then I was full of emotion. It's definitely the biggest win of my career."

The emotions were probably so intense that they were impossible to control. In the championships match, Alize started strong, but faded quickly against the rejuvenated Venus Williams. Venus made amends for the Williamses, destroying Cornet 6-3,6-0 to seal her first title since late 2012. 

Despite the tough loss, this has been a magnificent week with tons of positives for the Frenchwoman. Not only did she beat five higher ranked players in a row, but she also got her first top 4 triumph, stunning none other than the world No.1. She may have got inspired by Marion Bartoli's stellar achievement at Wimbledon last season, but this could very well be Alize's breakthrough year. Looking forward to seeing more from this talented French player :)!

Alize got the biggest win of her career in Dubai when she stunned world No.1, Serena Williams, in the semifinals. Venus got revenge for the Williamses, beating the Frenchwoman 6-3,6-0 to claim the title.

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France's Winning Combo

Although they always had great contestants who would battle for the big prizes, the French squad has lacked those fierce competitors who would cross the finish line victorious. This year marked a change of fortune for France who finally put forth a winning combo to lift its first ever Hopman Cup. A success-hungry Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the always talented Alize Cornet cruised through a star-studded field in Perth to take home the crown. 

The French duo came through a tough group, dismissing three solid tandems: Americans Sloane Stephens and John Isner, Spaniards Anabel Medina-Garriguez and Daniel Munoz de la Nava, respectively Czech lovebirds Petra Kvitova and Radek Stepanek. 

Tsonga has been the powerhouse behind the team, winning all of his singles battles. Although she lost some of her singles clashes, Alize did a brilliant job backing up Jo to win the decisive mixed matches. That proved essential, especially in the final against Poland, which was won after the French duo crushed Agnieszka Radwanska and Grzegorz Panfil 6-0,6-2 in the mixed rubber.

Tsonga endured a miserable 2013, missing out on a golden opportunity at Roland Garros, before injuring his knee at Wimbledon to be sidelined for most of the remaining months. The triumph marks a great start to the next season for Jo-Wilfried, whose confidence was shaken after the aforementioned miserable period. This week should give him a much needed boost ahead of the Australian Open. Go Tsonga, win that elusive Slam!

Alize on the other hand, experienced a solid 2013, displaying some of her best tennis to claim the title in Strasbourg. The victory in Perth should help her strengthen her credentials as one of the leading ladies on the women's tour.

Alize and Jo-Wilfried found love on the tennis courts in Perth, combining their efforts to claim France's first Hopman Cup. The French duo came through a star-studded field in Perth, defeating teams from the US, Spain, Czech Republic, and Poland.

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Alize Completes Home Soil Duty

Alize Cornet might not have turned out to be the great star the French Federation was desperately looking for, but even so, she remains a pretty dangerous player, especially on clay, her favourite surface. She proved it last year when she came to life during the clay-court season, reaching her first WTA final in four years in Strasbourg. The result sparked some more good performances, the most important being the title she won on the Austrian clay, in Bad Gastein. 

Having failed to lift the Strasbourg crown at the first time of asking, Alize knew she had to bring her A game in order to finally complete the home soil duty. The draw worked in her favour and, following a string of early upsets, the Frenchwoman, seeded 3, remained the highest seed left through to the quarterfinals. With her main rivals out of the way, she took full advantage of the situation battling her way to a second successive final after an epic 7-5,6-7,6-3 semifinal victory over young Canadian, Eugenie Bouchard. If last year she lost to former French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone, this time she was determined not to let the opportunity slip by. The first set of the final was extremely tight, but after she won it in a tie-break, she was unstoppable. Her opponent, Czech Lucie Hradecka, was unable to win another game. An inspired Cornet claimed a sensational 7-6,6-0 victory to the delight the home fans who were cheering for her. She is just the second Frenchwoman to claim the Strasbourg title, after Aravane Rezai, who was successful in 2009.
I always suspected the French of lacking a winner's attitude. Alize proved me wrong with her triumph today, and hopefully more of her talented compatriots will copy her example. As for Alize, she will probably look to continue her winning streak at Roland Garros, where she has a pretty accessible path to a third round showdown with Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka.

After falling to Francesca Schiavone in last year's final, French Alize Cornet completed the home duty this year, beating Czech Lucie Hradecka, 7-6,6-0 to win the title in Strasbourg.

photos: Chryslene Caillaud

The Renaissance of Alizé Cornet

Bursting on the tennis scene with some extraordinary results, talented Alizé Cornet quickly established herself as one of the young guns on the WTA tour. A maiden title in Budapest and two runner up efforts in Acapulco and Rome guaranteed the Frenchwoman her first top20 season finish in 2008. However, just when everything seemed to be heading in the right direction, her world collapsed. The turning moment came at the 2009 Australian Open. Facing world number 1, Dinara Safina, in the fourth round, Cornet built a 5-2 up advantage in the decider and looked poised to collect the biggest win of her career. However, after failing to take the 2 match points she held at 5-4, her game crumbled allowing Dinara to win the match.
The loss completely shuttered Alizé's confidence. Although she set a career high ranking at number 11 in February, she was never quite the same player afterwards. What followed was total misery, the French woman losing ten times in the first round.

After enduring her trials and tribulations, years in which she struggled with frustration, lack of confidence and poor results, Cornet looks to have finally found herself again on a tennis court. The first signs came in Strasbourg, on home clay, where she reached her first final in four years, losing a tight encounter with former Roland Garros champion, Italian Francesca Schiavone. A disappointing first round defeat at the French Open did not hinder her momentum though and she finally grabbed that elusive second career crown at Bad Gastein, one of her favourite stops on the tour.

Without dropping a set all week, Alize defeated the likes of Edina Gallovitz-Hall, Sacha Jones, Estrella Cabeza Candela, Ksenia Pervak, and, ultimately, Yanina Wickmayer, to ensure one of the sweetest victories of her career. "It has been four years I haven't won a singles title, so it's just happiness now. I'm so happy," declared an enthusiastic Cornet. "It's been a super week. I really love this tournament. I love the people here and I feel everybody loves me as well. I'm not Austrian, but I feel like I'm Austrian when I'm here. It's my favorite tournament. What more can I ask for than winning it?"
Should this triumph revigorate her career remains to be seen, but, much like Germany's Tommy Haas, the French player proved she is not giving it up without a fight.

photos: AP

Winning a Battle, but Losing the War

The fact that French players are lacking the mental strength to grab their chances has been attested endlessly throughout the last decades. Tsonga lost one of his rare battles with Djokovic when it mattered most, namely in the final of the Australian Open 2008, Cornet lost being up 5-2 in the 3rd set to Safina (a loss that marked the beginning of the end for her), Bartoli is being defeated recently by lower-ranked players, Monfils and Gasquet are constantly injured and unfortunately, the string of French misses doesn't end here. The Fed Cup battle with Russia this last weekend was just the missing cherry on the cake. 

Entering as the underdogs, Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano did wonders in beating Kuznetsova, respectively Sharapova, to ensure a 2-0 lead. Once again, France had the upper-hand and a place in the semis was within their reach. Then the usual thing happened. After getting a good night's sleep, the Russian squad came out stronger than ever and managed to turn things around, while France succumbed. The previous hard work proved to no avail eventually, as Kuznetsova/ Pavlyunchenkova beat Coin/Cornet in the decisive doubles match to seize a 3-2 win.

Another conclusive example is the Davis Cup final against Serbia last November. Prior to the final, I was expecting two single wins for each team, the double clash to decide the winner. Deep down I was hoping one of the Frenchmen could beat Djokovic. After Llodra subdued the Serb in Paris a couple of weeks before, I was counting on a repeat. Guy Forget, however, had other ideas. He selected Simon to play Djokovic. Of course, Gilles lost in three sets. Even so, after the first two days, France was 2-1 ahead and was in need of one more win to capture the trophy. Clement and Llodra did a great job in overcoming Zimonjic/ Troicki in a five set thriller showing great fighting spirits. With the odds on their side, Forget blew it once more. I am not sure what exactly went through his mind, but he picked Llodra over Simon (who holds a 5-0 record against Troicki) to face the Serb in the singles' rubber. I was appalled by his judgment and the fact that Llodra lost easily in 3 sets substantiates my thinking. His choice was faulty and, in my opinion, deprived France of the win. 

Having such huge talents (i.e. Tsonga, Monfils, Gasquet, Simon, Bartoli, Golovin or Cornet), it is shocking that France doesn't have a top ten player. So why do French players excel in creating opportunities, but are lousy in taking then? 

photo: Kivrin /Golovanov